Soviet or German soldiers lived more comfortably at the front during World War II

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

For contemporaries who form their understanding of the war on the basis of films and stories of veterans, the soldier's life is left behind the scenes. Meanwhile, for soldiers, as well as for any other person, adequate living conditions are vital. When it came to mortal danger, everyday trifles faded into the background, and in military field conditions there could be no talk of convenience at all. How did the Soviet soldiers get out of the situation and how did their life differ from the German one?

In both books and films, very little attention is paid to this area of soldier's life. The filmmakers omitted this not the most pretentious part of the soldier's life. Meanwhile, for the viewer it was actually interesting, but for the fighters it was an integral part of military life.

In military field conditions, the life and hygiene of German and Soviet soldiers were somewhat similar. Accommodation in field conditions, problems with food, poor postal service, enormous physical activity, which was interspersed with forced idleness - all this united both sides. And what, in principle, it is not customary to talk about is hunger, dirt, overwhelming insects, and most importantly - constant uncertainty, the expectation of death or injury.

It would seem that “in war, as in war,” but the memories of German soldiers demonstrate that at times in everyday life they had a harder time. If only because they were far from their homeland, in unfamiliar weather conditions. And what about "General Moroz", who helped to expel not a single enemy army from the Russian land ?! The soldiers argued that the territory of Russia seemed to them endless, and the weather conditions were getting harsher and more severe. At the same time, the civilian population tried in every possible way to spoil their lives, often forcing them to even look for drinking water.

In conditions of remoteness from home and the absence of a regular opportunity for correspondence, comrades in arms became practically family members. The loss of each of them was experienced as a huge loss of a loved one.

A limited amount of entertainment, which could distract a little from the harsh reality, also took place. Sometimes there were cultural events with visiting artists, but in the evenings they played cards more often. Despite the mass of historical evidence of German brothels, they were inaccessible to most. Any casual contact with women in the occupied territories was discouraged on both sides. And the majority in their homeland had a family, spouse or beloved.

Hygiene or unsanitary conditions of Soviet soldiers

All that is necessary for a normal life for a soldier is food, warmth, the ability to sleep and wash. Despite the fact that all the essentials were in very limited quantities, Soviet soldiers managed to read newspapers, listen to the radio, write a letter to relatives, and go to a concert (for Soviet soldiers, for obvious reasons, they were held more often). But of all the soldier's life, it is the least common to talk about hygiene. Quite an intimate question, which at the same time plays a big role not only in the comfort of an individual, but also in his well-being.

You can even understand how things were at the front with hygiene by the common phrase "feed the lice at the front."There are archival data according to which head lice in the ranks of the Red Army reached epidemic proportions. The management, realizing the complexity of the issue, created teams of special sanitary trains and disinfection units. Therefore, Soviet soldiers fought at once with two armies - fascists and lice. Military medics working in the units could hardly help the soldiers get rid of the annoying creatures. There were no suitable drugs or physical capabilities for this.

The most difficult state of affairs was at the very beginning of the war. By the fall of 1941, a pediculosis epidemic had spread to parts. On some fronts, the infection rate reached 96%! It is not surprising. The system of sanitary services for the fighters has not yet been developed. It was simply not up to it. There were no baths, laundries, there was simply not enough soap, and what was available had a sharp drop in quality. There was a big shortage of soda, which was used for washing.

It was clear that the problem needed to be addressed, and as soon as possible. By the winter of the same year, BPDP began to appear - bath and laundry disinfection trains. It was a real conveyor belt. More than a hundred soldiers could pass through such purgatory in just one hour. The train consisted of 15 (or slightly more) carriages, each of which had a changing room, shower room, laundry room, dryers, and a formalin treatment room. Hot water and steam came from the locomotive itself.

A year later, more than a hundred such trains were manufactured to help the Red Army. Despite the fact that the situation has ceased to be so painful, it is not necessary to say that the lice and nits were defeated. Such trains could not operate close to the front line, most often they handled recruits, or those soldiers who were redirected from unit to unit.

Specially created washing and disinfection companies worked at the front line. Their number also grew regularly, by the middle of the war there were already more than a hundred of them. They fought for the hygiene of the soldiers with special exterminators and mobile shower chambers. Special laundry units were responsible for the cleanliness of the military uniform. They also used some pretty strong chemicals to kill insects.

At the beginning of the war, insects were fought with synthetic insecticides. On their basis, special soap and other disinfectants were made. But towards the end of the war, the so-called "dust" began to be used. The drug was the best invention of its time in this area. If the fabric was impregnated with it, then the insects did not even try to start in it. And how dangerous this drug is for the person himself, scientists did not know then.

Considering that the rescue of drowning people is the work of the drowning people themselves, the soldiers themselves actively tried to get rid of insects from their clothes and hair. For example, they put their clothes in a metal barrel and put them on the fire. The high temperature worked as a disinfectant. However, sometimes, in this way, the military uniform was simply burned.

In their letters, they were sent combs with frequent teeth. With their help, the pests could be simply combed out. Shaving bald was also a good option, though. Often they destroyed all vegetation, even the eyebrows. By the way, the films often show fighters in sheepskin coats. In fact, they were not particularly recognized, calling them "lice". Perhaps the top management could afford to keep these clothes clean and wear them, but ordinary soldiers preferred sweatshirts.

An interesting fact, but as soon as by the third year of the war, food in the military units returned to normal, the epidemic also disappeared. Of course, the well-functioning system of baths and laundries played a huge role in this. Of course, the German side faced exactly the same problem. And often even sharper. Lice began to overpower the Fritzes by the winter of 1941, when, taken by surprise by the cold, they began to put on whatever came to hand. The rags were a great breeding ground for insects.

In addition to insects, the fighters suffered greatly from scabies. The causative agent of this disease is also a parasite, and the sensations are exactly the same acutely unpleasant as from lice. Endless itching of the skin, which only intensifies towards night, did not give the fighters a rest at all.

To organize a full-fledged treatment for scabies in the conditions of the front was an unrealistic task. Improvised ointments were used. The most common was the use of hyposulfite and hydrochloric acid. They rubbed them one after another into the skin. This procedure was extremely painful, but the maddening itch pushed even not to such sacrifices. Despite the fact that this technique was quite effective, it did not protect against reinfection in any way.

Basically, hygienic procedures in the summer were performed in rivers, lakes and other open bodies of water. In winter, they could hastily build a bathhouse, or count on the help of the local population. However, the soldiers invented more and who in what way. For example, there were autobahns. A stove and a container with water were installed in the truck, but such a bath worked on diesel fuel, and not on wood.

The opportunity to relax and get rid of pestering insects in the field was practically a vacation for the fighters. Deprived of elementary comfort, the soldiers were happy with what they have, without losing their vitality and energy even in such conditions. But they also had to fight.

Life and hygiene of German soldiers

The Second World War is also unique in that it is not just resistance, but also the interaction of two armies, mentality, cultures and forms of government. In addition, one should not forget that the difference in mentality also determined the difference in cultural and ethical norms. So, certain moments from the life of German soldiers extremely surprised the Red Army and vice versa.

The Red Army men, who used every opportunity to wash themselves, did not cease to be amazed at the unsanitary conditions of the German dugouts. They literally swarmed with those that the Soviet soldiers so diligently got rid of. And in general, the general sanitary conditions, to put it mildly, shocked the Red Army soldiers.

On the one hand, in addition to the mentality, this was facilitated by the geographical remoteness from the homeland and poor equipment. Especially in the first winter, the Germans, who were planning a lightning-fast seizure of the USSR, turned out to be unprepared for the cold and literally insulated themselves with whatever they could. These could be quilted jackets taken from the locals, blankets obtained there.

Soviet soldiers were also surprised by the fact that the Germans did not have their own bedding. They could sleep wherever they wanted. Including on someone else's bed. Sometimes the Nazis took away mattresses and pillows from locals for personal use.

In the first months of the war, the Fuhrer's army was literally overgrown with parasites, since they did not know how to maintain cleanliness and hygiene in the field. The Germans have learned a lot in this regard from Soviet soldiers, who will either build a bathhouse by the lake, or change the car for a washing machine.

However, the mutual interest of the representatives of the two armies did not end with the peculiarities of hygiene procedures in the field. Soviet soldiers have repeatedly noted that the Germans who were captured never sit idle. Even in conditions of confinement, they always tried to find something to do, up to the organization of theatrical circles, literary evenings, choirs. Many made handicrafts, various boxes, chess or souvenirs. The Soviet side only cultivated this kind of hobbies and emphasized in every possible way that in Soviet captivity, prisoners read poetry and draw, instead of suffering and torment.

On the other hand, Soviet soldiers, for whom the interests of a comrade-in-arms are always on a par with their own, were surprised that the Germans were stealing from each other. Such evidence now and then appeared in wartime. The Red Army men, confident that it is beneath human dignity to "rat" in the conditions of war, and even among their colleagues, more than once caught the Germans on this. Traditionally, it is believed that in the German units there was excellent discipline, but this did not stop gutting the parcels of colleagues before they were delivered.

Lieutenant Evert Gottfried pointed out in his memoirs that it was from the Russians that they learned how to build a sauna or bathhouse. We tried to wash at least once a week, steam, put on clean linen, remove lice. However, there were also those among the Germans who tried to bring themselves to an extremely neglected state and did not wash themselves on purpose, hoping that they would commission him home.

With regard to the supply of detergents, the German leadership was much more generous than the Soviet. Each soldier had a bag that looked like a Soviet duffel bag, only rectangular. It was worn on a belt, at hip level. There was supposed to be a ration, a set for washing and shaving. The soldiers were regularly supplied with soaps of various kinds, tooth powders, brushes, mouthwashes, shaving kits and even mirrors, creams and nail files.

Moreover, the Germans, with their characteristic pedantry, in a duffel bag wore not only soap and a razor set, but also, for example, an expensive perfume brought with them from their homeland. The Red Army men, who inspected the personal belongings of the captured, were amazed at the nail brushes and perfume. They did not know yet that the Fritzes are very worried that there is no way to have a normal haircut.

Many Red Army men were surprised by the presence of brothels among the Germans. Often they were created in the occupied territories with the involvement of local women. Since this was in the order of things, contraceptives were also distributed among the personal hygiene products to the soldiers. Again, during personal searches, Soviet soldiers, especially those who grew up in villages, did not even understand what it was.

However, most of all Soviet soldiers were surprised by the habitual Nazis to go without clothes. They often, completely not embarrassed by the inhabitants of the occupied territories, could walk completely naked and not see anything reprehensible in this. This strange habit of the fascists in everyday life is evidenced by many archival photographs later found in military archives.

There are several explanations for this, they could not consider the Slavs as those who should be ashamed, as representatives of the lower caste. In addition, they considered themselves, the Aryans, to be the standard of beauty and perfection in all respects. Therefore, they practically brought beauty into the world. In addition, in Germany in the first half of the 20th century, nudism was, in principle, popular.

On the one hand, such emancipation, incomprehensible to Soviet soldiers, was evidence of the freedom of the soldiers of the Third Reich. A kind of call to deviate from the norms of morality and actively multiply, apparently in order for the Aryans to be as many as possible.